


A Funny Feeling

by seraphic_gate



Category: Tales of Zestiria
Genre: Awkward Boners, Fluff and Smut, M/M, Sauna, seraphim puberty?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-20
Updated: 2016-01-20
Packaged: 2018-05-15 02:00:54
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,183
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5767054
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/seraphic_gate/pseuds/seraphic_gate
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Mikleo has a problem.  Sorey wants to help, but nothing works.  The only person he can ask for advice is Zaveid.  Things get tricky.  It's a fic about boners.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Funny Feeling

**Author's Note:**

> I've been writing this fic for two months and it's like a million words long and it's definitely the most romantic fic about boners I've ever written so ENJOY.

Sorey didn't need to be persuaded to stop in Marlind whenever they were traveling through. That this city had been a plague town abandoned by its neighbors and left for dead only a short few months ago was difficult to comprehend. Now, it was a bustling point of commerce sheltered under the canopy of the great tree. Even as the sun set, people walked to and from, in no hurry to get home. Sorey and the others weren't pressed to return to the inn, either. It seemed like a waste of a trip to Marlind not to stop at their famous sauna.

Getting in was something of a pain with a bunch of invisible friends. Sorey had to decline, not the first time, the offer for him and Rose to use the Romantic Couple's Spa. He began to suspect that the norms of human culture escaped him, since he didn't think it should seem weird for him to be traveling with Rose without being married to her, even if they really had been alone.

Then he had to get extra towels and buckets for the seraphim. He tried to cut down on the amount of random floating objects other people saw, but thinking of them as invisible didn't come naturally to him. He forgot about Mikleo most of all. He couldn't count the times he'd been deep into a debate about something or other with Mikleo, only to get a firm umbrella in the side from Edna, then look up and notice people staring at him.

But after all that effort, he could finally relax and hang out with the guys. He sat in the steam-filled room with his skin bare except for a towel across his lap, and let his muscles relax. "This hits the spot.”

Mikleo sat next to him, shoulder to shoulder, leaning his head back against the wall. "It really does.”

Zaveid sat opposite the two of them, arms folded across his chest and eyebrows furrowed in concentration.

Mikleo lifted his head and leaned in towards him. "It would be a lot more relaxing if you'd stop worrying about the women and just chill."

"Maybe a water seraph like you can _just chill_ your way through life," Zaveid said, "but a man like me needs to take these things seriously."

"You are telling me to be more serious? How is it when it comes to female nudity, suddenly our roles are switched? You're a creep."

"Nah, Sorey knows what I'm talking about!"

Sorey laughed and rubbed the back of his head. "Kind of? It's true that seraphim can be very beautiful, but I'm sure the girls wouldn't like it if you actually succeeded."

Mikleo cleared his throat. "What seraphim would you be talking about, Sorey?"

"Oh, I don't expect to succeed," Zaveid said, interrupting Mikleo. "It's all part of the flirtatious nature of a healthy relationship between two adult seraphim. I know Lailah would never let me get away with it, but if I stop trying, she'd be insulted."

Mikleo's face was wrinkled up in disgust. "That's not a relationship!"

Sorey scratched his head. "Maybe you could just ask them, though? I still don't understand, why can't we all just use the same bath?"

"Sorey!"

"Wow." Zaveid whistled a low tone. "You sure don't know how things work between men and women."

"I guess not?"

Zaveid stood, holding the towel around his waist, and threw another one over his neck to help dry his long hair. "I'm gonna head out," he said. "I feel like going for a walk to dry off, but don't wait up. I'll be back inside that noggin' of yours before you wake up in the morning."

"Sure.”

Zaveid left the sauna.

Mikleo watched him walk away, and waited for him to be gone before he spoke. "I hope he's not up to anything skeevy."

"Lailah and the others seem capable of taking care of themselves," Sorey said. "And maybe he is right. Maybe that's just his way of having fun with Lailah." They sat silently for a moment considering this.

He also considered that it was nice being in the sauna just the two of them. They used to spend most of their days together, but now it felt weird to be in a room with just Mikleo. Not in a bad way. If anything, it was more special now that it was a rare occurrence.

Sorey grinned and elbowed Mikleo in the side.

"Uh!" Mikleo scoffed, and his mouth opened into such an exaggerated shape that Sorey laughed. Mikleo took it out on Sorey by poking him in the side, and within seconds they were play-punching and blocking tickle attacks. “Hey you, quit it!” Mikleo said, but he was smiling and laughing and instigating the fight just as much.

Sorey ruffled Mikleo's hair and stood, breaking off from his part in the battle. "Okay, okay, that's it for me, too."

Mikleo pouted. "You always give up when you're losing."

Sorey wanted to retort something, or go back on the attack, but something about the way Mikleo looked at him right then made him stop. His smile was more than teasing. There was a softness in his eyes that Sorey hadn't seen in a long time. "I wish you'd smile like that more often."

"What?" Mikleo sputtered and straightened up where he sat. He crossed his arms and looked down at his feet without saying anything else.

Sorey felt a pang of guilt that he'd made Mikleo's smile go away. As always, he didn't know better than to verbalize every thought that popped into his head. He looked up, trying to think of something that would make Mikleo laugh and smile like that again. But when he looked, he found Mikleo's face twisted with what looked like pain. Sorey's heart jumped and he knelt by his side. "What's wrong?"

"I feel sick," Mikleo said. His voice was trembling. His body turned away from Sorey. He clutched at the towel around his waist. "I need to go lay down."

"You probably stayed too long in the hot water," Sorey said. "Here, just rest in my head for a little. I'll collect your clothes for you."

Mikleo nodded, then disappeared in a spark of light. Sorey closed his eyes and pressed his hand against his heart. Sometimes, when they were inside him, Sorey could feel just a little bit of the seraphim's sensations if he tried. He couldn't feel any pain or nausea inside him from Mikleo, but as soon as he opened his senses wide to him, panic broke against him like a surging wave, and he was forced to shut down. "Just hold on," he said, shaking his head to clear Mikleo's anxiety out of his mind. "I'm going back to the inn."

Mikleo didn't answer.

\- - -

At the inn, the other Seraphim and Rose gathered around the door to their room. "He's going to get dressed and then right into bed," Sorey explained. "For some reason, using me as a vessel only made his condition worse."

"Poor Mikleo," Lailah said. She brushed her hand against Sorey's arm as if he was the one who was sick. "What happened?"

"We were just hanging out in the sauna, and all of the sudden he started to look nauseous."

Lailah placed a finger against her lips in thought. "It's true that seraphim can catch a cold or a flu," she said, "but we have to really believe it's a possibility. Unless Mikleo suddenly turned hypochondriac, it's unlikely he'd catch a cold without at least being near someone else with visible symptoms."

"Mikleo did get sick once when we were little," Sorey said. "But only because I was sick. Then after Gramps explained things to him, he started to get better."

"Is that the time Mikleo waited by your bed side for a week straight?" Lailah asked, a glimmer in her eyes. "What a sweetheart!"

Rose sighed. "Calm down, Lailah. We can hear the cute story about Mikleo being a dork later, after he's better."

"So maybe Meebo _thinks_ something is wrong with him?" Edna's tone was annoyed. "Or maybe he's just faking it for attention. Maybe Meebo's been feeling extra invisible lately."

"Meebo wouldn't," Lailah started. "I mean, _Mikleo_ wouldn't do that."

"No," Sorey said. He looked deeply into the empty space in front of him. "Whatever it is, he's freaked out. He really believed there's something the matter with him."

"Rose, Sorey," Lailah said, "For now, let's bring Mikleo some hot soup and hearbal tea. Then perhaps we'd best give him a bit of privacy and rest."

The group nodded in unison, even Edna. Sorey went downstairs to order the food, and Rose, as the only other human hand available, went with him. Lailah turned to Edna and Zaveid.

"Could the two of you make yourselves scarce?" she asked.

Zaveid nodded knowingly. "You think that whatever Micky boy's self-inflicted condition is might clear up if we just let Sorey naturally tend to him?"

Lailah nodded. "It must be awfully difficult for them, sharing Sorey's mind with all of us. Perhaps this imaginary illness is just a byproduct of coping with that."

Edna shrugged. "Fine, but I'm going to eat a lot of cakes in the meantime"

"Oh good, I'll join you!"

\- - -

“Thanks for helping, Rose,” Sorey said. She carried the soup, while Sorey handled the tea and extra snacks.

“No problem!” Rose smiled in that way that always reassured him. “Mikleo may be a little rough around the edges sometimes, but I know he cares about everyone. He'd do the same for any of us, I bet.”

“He'd deny it though.”

Rose laughed. “Yeah, he would.”

They reached the door to the inn room where Mikleo was resting. Sorey knocked. “Mikleo, are you still awake?”

Mikleo answered immediately. “Who's with you?”

“Oh, um.” Sorey wondered what was up with the harsh tone in his voice. “Just me and Rose, can we come in?”

There was a pause. “Can you tell Rose I'm sorry?”

“Huh?” Sorey looked at Rose.

Rose handed him the soup, and helped him balance it in his hand with the plate of snacks sitting on top.“I think he wants to see just you.”

“Oh, okay.”

Rose slapped Sorey on the back. It was a little too hard, and he struggled to keep the food balanced in both hands. “Tell him not to worry, I get it,” she said. “And tell him I hope he feels better soon.”

“Thanks for everything, Rose. But um, one last thing?”

“Yeah?”

“Do you think you can open the door for me?”

\- - -

Sorey entered the room. Rose closed the door behind him.

Mikleo was hiding under a thick blanket, curled up like a shrimp facing the wall.

Sorey set the food and drink on the table next to the bed. Then he pulled up a chair and sat. “Brought you some dinner. It's just some soup and tea, so you should be able to keep it down.”

“Thanks.” Mikleo's voice was a muffled low tone underneath the blanket. “I'm not sick to my stomach, though. You don't have to worry about that.”

“Then what is bothering you?” Sorey put his weight into one hand and leaned onto the bed. He hadn't even touched him, but Mikleo felt the depression his hand made in the mattress and curled into an even tighter ball. Sorey pulled back. “I'd be less worried if you were hurling.”

“I don't want to talk about it.”

Sorey leaned back into the chair and rubbed his head. “That's what's got me worried,” he said. “Something is obviously wrong here, and you won't tell me.”

“It's embarassing.”

“Embarassing?” That made Sorey only more concerned. “But, we never hold back from each other.”

Mikleo groaned and rolled over just far enough that Sorey could see his silver hair sticking out from the top of the blanket. “It's my body, it's doing something weird.”

“Your whole body? Maybe I should ask Lailah--”

“No!”

“Huh? But she knows the most about this kind of stuff.”

“No, just. Definitely not Lailah, okay?”

“Hm.” Sorey lifted his hand to his chin, pondering. “What's going on?”

Mikleo pulled the blanket away from his head, but still avoided eye contact with Sorey. “I feel hot all over,” he said. “And my heart is racing.”

“You have a fever? I don't see why that's so embarassing.”

“That's just part of it.”

Sorey got out of the chair and knelt by the side of the bed. He folded his arms together on the edge of the mattress and rest his head there, so that Mikleo couldn't look away from him. Mikleo's eyes were red and puffy like he might cry. “Come on,” he said. “We don't hold back, remember? Whatever it is, you can always tell me. I'll never laugh at you when you have a real problem. You know that, right?”

Mikleo swallowed so hard that Sorey could see his throat constrict. “It's stiff,” he said. His voice was little more than a whimper.

“What is?”

Mikleo covered his face again with the blanket. Realization dawned on Sorey, and he began to laugh. “Are you serious?”

“You just told me you wouldn't laugh!”

Sorey cleared his throat. “You're right, I'm sorry.” But he couldn't help a little chuckle. “I'm not laughing at your problem, I'm laughing because you thought you couldn't tell me. That's not weird at all, Mikleo.”

“It isn't?”

“Well, I mean, you remember when we used to see the Prickleboars in mating season, right? They'd get super aggressive and uh... well, yeah. That happens to all kinds of creatures and humans aren't any exception. I can't see why Seraphim would be any different.”

Mikleo emerged from his cocoon and looked at Sorey, eyes wide. “Are you saying this has happened to you before?”

“Um.” Sorey scratched his head. “Yeah?”

Mikleo kept the blanket wrapped around his waist to conceal the problem area, and began to get that indignant look on his face that he always did. It made Sorey feel better to see it. “So I guess it's just common knowledge that I somehow didn't know about.”

“Oh come on, you read the biology books that Gramps had. This is that, you know?”

Mikleo's expression softened and he ventured a side-eyed glance at Sorey. “So how do you make it go away?”

Sorey stood up. “That should be super easy for you,” he said, putting his hands on his hips. “Just douse yourself with cold water! That does the trick.”

“I guess that would work.”

Sorey held his hand out. “Come on and stand over here with me so that you don't get water all over the bed.”

Mikleo looked at his hand hesitantly, then took it. Sorey made certain not to look where Mikleo was feeling self-conscious about. They stood side by side.

“Okay, here it goes, I guess.”

Sorey laughed. “I've never gotten to see you use your artes on yourself before.”

“You're enjoying this too much.”

“Ha ha, sorry! I won't even watch, okay?”

Sorey turned his back to Mikleo. He heard Mikleo take a deep breath, then saw the reflection of his arte's light on the walls. There wasa bubbling sound, then splashing and Mikleo's “Augh!”

He turned to find Mikleo drenched in water. His hair was matted and hung in his face. His thin night clothes clung to him, and made it difficult not to notice his particular problem. “Didn't work, did it?”

“No, it didn't work!” Mikleo shouted back at him, and flicked water at his face.

“Hey, don't take it out on me!”

Mikleo sighed. “I feel a little better. My blood isn't as hot, at least. But the issue is still, um...”

“Okay, okay.” Sorey clapped his hands together. “Plan B. If you can't chill it out, then just work it off.”

“Work it off?”

“Yeah, burn off all that extra energy! Why do you think I ran laps around Elysia before it was even dawn so many times?”

Mikleo's cheeks flushed at that, just a little. Sorey tried not to show it on his face--he knew it would make him uncomfortable, especially in this state-- but he thought that little bit of color on him was so cute. Mikleo never knew it, but stuff like that was why he had to run laps in the morning.

Mikleo grimaced. “I thought you were just trying to improve your fitness.”

Sorey laughed, loudly this time. “Oh man, no.” He took a deep breath. “Okay, this time I'll do it with you. That's fair, right? Let's start with fifty jumping jacks.”

“Okay, I guess.”

“And—come on—one, and two, and—come on, you're not doing it!”

Mikleo began to jump jacks along with Sorey, although he couldn't have looked more mortified. Although Mikleo was light-footed, Sorey's heavy feet pounded the floorboards as they jumped up and down.

\- - -

Downstairs in the inn's common area, Lailah and Edna were sharing a cake at one of the dinner tables, while Rose and Zaveid drank at the bar. They looked up, all together, as rythmic pounding shook the ceiling above.

The bartender sighed. “Some of our guests,” he said to Rose, shaking his head. “Honeymoon, I guess.”

Rose envied her friends that no one could see them. Zaveid lost it all together and began belting out a guffaw loud enough to drown out all the noise from above. Edna was snickering out of the side of her grin.

“Surely not,” Lailah said, threatening to crack the mug she held between her hands with her grasp.

Edna rolled her eyes. “I'll sooner believe a hellion broke into their room and started thrashing them both against the walls.”

\- - -

“Fifty!”

Sorey was glowing. Workouts always made him feel energetic and alert. Mikleo, though, looked like he was about to pass out.

“What, that didn't work either?”

Mikleo doubled over and was catching his breath. “No, it didn't!” He grumbled and sat back on the bed where he could cover it up.

“Hm.” Sorey looked up at the ceiling in thought. “You know, I am getting a little worried. It has been like this since we were at the sauna? That was hours ago. And after all this it hasn't died down? Maybe you are sick.”

Mikleo grasped his head in his hands. “I don't know what to do. I can't let anyone see me this way.”

“Well, there's just one more sure fire way to deal with it,” Sorey said. “But you're not going to like it.” The nervous scratching at his cheek intensified. “You can uh... just touch it, you know?”

Mikleo's head popped up, face pink again. “What?”

Sorey turned away and thought. How was he going to explain this? “The only other thing I can think of is to just go with it,” he said. “Do whatever feels good until it uh, you know, until--”

“I get the idea,” Mikleo grumbled. He buried his face in his hands again. “I can't believe we are having a conversation about this.”

Sorey turned around again, forcing a smile. “I'll just uh, go downstairs,” he said. “Maybe try it? It can't make things worse. Or I dunno, maybe you can just sleep it off.”

“Yeah, maybe I'll try sleeping.”

\- - -

Sorey left Mikleo alone in the room.

Mikleo remained seated at the edge of the bed with his face covered by his hands. Some time passed, he wasn't sure how much.

It was Sorey's fault. The way Sorey looked at the sauna and the way he smiled at him, and what he said. That's what started it. The water trick had helped a little, but then Sorey started jumping and sweating and it was all back again in full force.

He rolled over into the bed and covered himself with the blankets. Maybe if he just turned his thoughts off and slept, it would be gone when he woke up.

\- - -

Downstairs, Rose, Zaveid, Edna, and Lailah were all sitting together at a table. Their conversation was lively and loud, until Sorey approached. Instant silence.

“So, uh,” Zaveid started. He had a weird look on his face. “How's Mik?”

“I'm worried about him,” Sorey said. “I mean, he seems fine for now, but what if he isn't better by morning?”

The weird half-grinds disappeared from their faces. Lailah in particular began to look concerned. “Oh, Sorey,” she said. “Why don't we get a serparate room, and you can stay with Mikleo for the night?”

“I think it'd be best if I roomed with you guys.” Sorey sighed. “Mikleo doesn't want anyone to see him in this state.” He didn't need to specify what that state was.

Edna smirked. “Meebo's too proud to let us see him spewing sick from both ends, huh?”

“That's not what I said!”

“All right, all right.” Rose gestured with her drink to the seat next to hers. “Come here and hang out with us, then.”

“Thanks for being so understanding, everyone.”

\- - -

The night grew late and Mikleo still couldn't sleep. It felt like he was starving or thirsting to death for something, but it wasn't food or drink. His body wouldn't quiet down. Sleeping in this state was unfathomable.

Desperate, he considered the option Sorey had told him about. Just touch it?

Even as he was slipping his hand into his pants he thought how ridiculous this all was, how the very thought of it was humiliating, seeking carnal gratification like a prickleboar in heat.

He grazed it with the tip of his index finger. Just the lightest touch was such a sensation. It did feel good, he thought. Not bad, at least. A little more, he began to use his thumb, feeling the unfamiliar shape. It wasn't as if he had never touched it before, but this was so weird. Larger, stiff, and sensitive.

If doing this would make it go away, then that would be better than facing the others tomorrow. He cupped his hand around his erection, and for a moment it did feel good. But just as soon as he seemed to be getting somewhere, the feeling changed. Instead of sending starry sweet tremors through his hips, it began to irritate him, like an itch. Soon his touch was uncomfortable at best and painful when he tried to force it.

“This doesn't work either,” he groaned into the pillow. “What am I going to do?”

\- - -

Sorey went to bed that night with Lailah, Edna, and Zaveid in his head. Rose slept in the room's second bed. She stirred when he woke in the morning. Must be those assassin instincts, he thought.

“Going to check on him?” she yawned.

“Yeah, and if you guys could excuse me, too?”

Lailah, Edna, and Zaveid materialized each in their own colored flashes.

Lailah nodded. “Certainly, Sorey.”

Zaveid sat down on the bed. “I guess we could stand to relax another day while Mikster heals up.”

Edna bonked him with her umbrella. “You just want to go back to the sauna.” Zaveid laughed and blocked her next attack with his arm.

Sorey put his shoes on and went to the door. “Thanks, everyone.”

\- - -

When Sorey knocked on the door, Mikleo had hardly gotten any sleep. “Come in,” he said, and sat up in the bed. He stayed under the blankets, since his problem was ever persistant.

“Good morning!” Sorey's smile faded when he saw his face. Mikleo bet his eyes were all puffy and dark from the fitful night he had. “Feeling any better?”

“Not really,” Mikleo said. “Sorey, what if it doesn't go away? What if I'm stuck like this. What am I going to do?”

“Hey, hey.” Sorey scrambled up to the bed and put his hand on Mikleo's shoulder. “Don't freak out, everyone's okay with staying here today. Just relax. Maybe it's a stress thing.”

“If that's so, it's only stressing me out more because it won't go away.”

“So um,” Sorey sat in the chair next to him and looked away, twisting the dangling feather of one of his earrings around his finger. “Did you try it?”

Mikleo pouted. “I did. It didn't help at all.”

“Really? It didn't feel good?”

“Not at all!” It had felt good, only for a second.

“Well.” Sorey got to his feet. He still wasn't looking at Mikleo. “I'll figure something out. You just rest, and try not to worry about it. Maybe read a book or something.”

“Where are you going?”

Sorey turned back and smiled at him one last time when he reached the door. “Don't know yet!”

Mikleo hugged his arms against himself and grumbled under his breath. Sorey was such a terrible liar.

\- - -

The city of Marlind was bright and shining that day. The sun sprinkled through the tree branches and made everything nice and warm. As Sorey walked down the street towards the sauna, he thought how he wished Mikleo was well again. Not just due to his concern over the matter, but because today was just too beautiful of a day to miss.

When it came to this kind of thing, this kind of problem, he really needed to talk to a seraph. Only another seraph would know how seraphim's bodies worked. Lailah would probably know if he asked, but Mikleo would never forgive him for it. Edna was totally out of the question. Oh, the nicknames she would brew up if she knew about this. That left only one seraph who could help Sorey find the cure for Mikleo's problem, although he loathed the idea.

Zaveid was standing outside the Sauna, turning his head whenever an attractive woman walked past. “Excuse me?” Sorey didn't know how to breach the subject. “Zaveid?”

“What are you all skittish and formal about?” Zaveid turned and stretched his arms. “Come on, sit over here with me and just enjoy ladies walking around in their swimwear.”

“Swim suits are fun,” Sorey said, “but I have to talk to you about something really important.”

“Ah, I see, so while the Mik-nanny boy is momentarily occupied with recovery, you finally decided to ask Zaveid about the ways of love?”

“No, definitely not.”

Zaveid groaned. “Come on, I have to live vicariously through you young ones, you know?”

“I need to talk to you about Mikleo.”

He scratched his chin in thought. “It's okay if you're into that, but I can't really help you with men.”

“No, that's--” Sorey shook his head. “I need to ask you about Mikleo's illness.”

“ _Oh._ ” Zaveid continued scratching at his chin and extended the exclaimation for so long that Sorey began to get nervous. Then Zaveid laughed, which didn't comfort him, either. “Little Micky's got a stiffy, huh?”

Sorey flailed his arms. “Shh, keep your voice down!”

“Relax, it's not like these humans can hear me.”

“Oh yeah.” Sorey relaxed. That was true. “I always forget.”

“Look, if you need help with Mikleo and you won't go to Lailah, it has to be about that one thing, right?” Sorey tried not to look so obvious, but he was beginning to understand what Mikleo meant when he said someone as honest as him couldn't survive out here alone. Zaveid stretched his arms again before he continued. “You think human puberty is bad? It's been a millennia plus since I was as young as Micky-boy, and I can still remember it clearly.”

Sorey knew he shouldn't be so interested, but learning even more about the seraphim was fascinating in its own context, regardless of the situation. “So, how does it work?”

“Seraphim don't have rampant hormones or an instinct to reproduce like humans do. That's probably why Mikleo has never had this happen before. Our bodies operate on more of a mind-over-matter principal. When it begins, it's a reaction to subconscious thought. We can't control it. That can be pretty scary for a young pup.”

“He is scared,” Sorey said, clenching his fist. “I mean, the whole situation seems so silly, I laughed at first. But it's really getting to him. I'm worried.”

“He'll be okay.” Zaveid slapped Sorey on the shoulder and then laughed uproariously. “I once had a boner that lasted for ten years!”

“I really did not need to know that.”

“What I'm saying is, it's not going to kill him.”

Sorey thought about that. No, it wouldn't kill him. But he'd be in a state of extreme discomfort and humiliation, and Sorey couldn't let that happen. “So how do you make it stop?”

“Eventually you learn to control it, which is really cool.” Zaveid put his hands on his hips and puffed his chest out like he was proud of his mastery of control over his manhood. “For humans, it just sorta pops up whenever, doesn't it? Ha ha.”

“I guess I am a little jealous,” Sorey said, for Zaveid's benefit. He wasn't sure he had that much trouble with it, himself. “So how did you learn to control it?”

“That's the tough part, especially for a guy as rigid as Micky. You have to get comfortable with your own mind and body. If you have repressed feelings, they'll just keep popping back up—literally.”

If not for how concerned he was about Mikleo, Sorey would have been thoroughly invested in learning more about the subject. Seraphim biology wasn't something any books had been written about. But he shook his head again to clear his thoughts. “Okay, thanks Zaveid!” And with that, he turned and began to run off towads the inn again.

Zaveid watched him leave, wondering what exactly it was he thought he'd be able to do.

\- - -

The first step in his plan to relax Mikleo was to find some ice cream. Mikleo loved ice cream, especially with delicate flavors. Sorey loved it too, although preferred more bold concoctions with chocolate and rainbow sprinkles. Mikleo had been making stuff like that for him since they were much younger, and it always made him smile. If he could do the same for Mikleo, that would be the best start.

Locating ice cream and keeping it chilled without Mikleo's help was going to be a challenge. He found a vendor selling some near the inn, but with the sun as bright as it was, he had to rush back to the inn and into Mikleo's room.

“I got you this!” Sorey announced as he entered. Mikleo was still in bed, a book cracked open and set aside as if he'd been attempting to read, but couldn't. Sorey didn't let that dissuade him, and grinned ear to ear. He walked over to the bed and presented the slightly melted bowl of ice cream.

“Sorey.” Mikleo groaned and leaned forward. “You know I can make ice cream any time I want, right?”

“But I bet you've never had this flavor. It's a regional special.”

Mikleo's eyes flitted up at him in sudden interest. “Is it?”

“Yep. It's sweetened with syrup made from the great tree's sap. They've only just been able to start making it again.”

“Really?” He took the bowl from Sorey's hands and poked at the ice cream with the spoon. “Hm, it has an airy texture.”

“Well, go on and eat it!”

He sat in the chair by the bed and leaned his elbow onto the side table. Mikleo looked at him. “Don't you want some? You are so excited about it, you must be dying to know what it tastes like.”

“I can get my own any time,” he said, waving his hand to dismiss the notion. “This one is just for you.”

Mikleo smiled as he sighed. “Suit yourself.” He lifted a spoonful of cold creamy goodness up to his lips. Sorey liked the way he tasted something for the first time. He swished the flavor around his mouth with his tongue, and he got this look on his face like he was trying to solve the world's most complicated equation.

“It's good,” he said. “Thank you, Sorey.”

“Don't even mention it.”

Mikleo looked through the window at the lovely day going on outside without him. “I've been considering whether I could cover it up somehow. Maybe wear a loose-fitting robe. Do you think that would be too obvious?”

Sorey was glad that Mikleo was at least considering other options besides hiding in this room until it passed, but he knew that it wouldn't solve the problem. “First, let's try something else.”

The bowl was now clean except for the melted remains of ice cream. Sorey took it from Mikleo's hands and set it aside. Then he sat on the edge of the bed next to Mikleo and took his hand.

Mikleo scoffed at the touch, but he didn't pull his hand away. “What are you doing?”

“I've just been thinking,” Sorey said. “We used to do so many things together that I kind of miss.”

“Since I started using you as a vessel, you mean?”

“Yeah.” Sorey cupped his other hand over Mikleo's. Mikleo tensed up, but allowed it. Sorey thought maybe that was a good start, at least. “Remember when we were little, and you used to hold my hand whenever we walked outside of Elysia? You thought I'd get lost if we didn't hold hands.”

A hint of a smile pulled at the edges of Mikleo's mouth. “You were always wandering off and falling through things.”

“How long has it been since we last held hands just like this?”

Mikleo's gaze drifted away again. “Years, I think.”

Sorey began to laugh. “Oh man, do you remember the kiss limit?”

Mikleo's hand gripped around Sorey's and his eyebrows became furrowed. He closed his eyes and frowned. “You were five. You wouldn't stop hugging and kissing everyone you saw. They had to make a rule that you could only kiss each one of us once every day.”

Sorey took one hand away to rub the back of his head. He wondered if he was blushing. His face felt warm. “Yeah, and I guess you got the brunt of it since we were always together.”

“You just loved everyone so much,” Mikleo said. “You still do.”

“Yeah.” Sorey took a deep breath. Holding Mikleo's hand was nice, even if Mikleo didn't seem to think so. He wasn't protesting the action, but he was tense and kept looking everywhere else but at him. “Do you remember the last time we shared the bed together?”

“What are you asking me about this for?”

“It's just that we used to be together. We used to do everything together, and we'd touch each other and sleep next to each other all the time, and it never felt weird or tense back then.” He cleared his throat, considering in the last moment if he should really say what he was about to say. It was going to change things. But then, he thought, at this point, things had already changed. He tightened his grip on Mikleo's hand. “I know why it felt different to me.”

Mikleo pulled his hand out of Sorey's grasp. He brought his knees up to his chest and hugged them with both arms. He stared at Sorey over the two hills of his knees, hiding most of his face. “What are you getting at?”

“I never wanted to make you uncomfortable,” Sorey continued. “I just wanted to keep being your best friend, always. I didn't ever want to drift apart from you. I'm so content, so happy, all the time, because I get to be with you. I don't need anything else.”

Mikleo's answer was muffled from behind his legs held tightly to his chest.“Weirdo.”

“Yeah, maybe I am.”

They sat in silence. For how long, Sorey didn't know. He wasn't impatient to hear what Mikleo had to say about that. If he never said anything, that would be fine, too. He just wanted to sit with Mikleo and be near him without holding back any of the things he had been feeling for such a long time.

“Is this because of my illness?” he said, finally. “Are you saying these things only because of my illness?”

“No.” Sorey heaved a sigh. “It's something I wanted to tell you before. I think I have told you, many times, just not in the right words.” _I wish you'd smile like that more often._ That was the last thing Sorey said before all this happened. “I think part of you understood, though. And that's why you're in this state. So I guess you could say it's my fault.”

“Of course it is, Sorey!” Mikleo curled up again and buried his face in his arms. “When you said that to me, looking the way that you looked then, I--”

“Hey, come here.”

Sorey leaned into the bed. He took Mikleo by the arm, careful not to move too fast, letting him decide if he wanted to back away. He didn't. Sorey pulled him closer. “Come on, just turn around for a sec.”

Mikleo pulled against him. Sorey stopped tugging on him, but kept his hand on his arm. “What are you doing?”

“Nothing weird, I promise.” Sorey smiled as reassuringly as he could, and gently began to pull again. “Just sit with your back to me.”

Whether it was because he trusted him, or because he thought it better just to humor him, Mikleo pulled the covers off himself and turned to sit as Sorey instructed.

Sorey placed his hands on Mikleo's shoulders and began to squeeze gently. Through Mikleo's night shirt, he could feel his muscles tighten up. “You're tense all over,” he said. “Come on, let me help you relax. You'll feel better.”

“Okay,” Mikleo said, but his back was still rigid. “Don't do anything weird.”

“I told you, I won't!” Sorey laughed and had to resist the temptation to poke him in the ribs. It had been his exscuse to touch Mikleo for so long, to get some physical contact with him without it needing to mean anything. But instead, he kept rubbing his shoulders with a firm grip. “Is that helping at all?”

“It's okay I guess,” Mikleo responded, but his body betrayed him. His muscles became pliant in Sorey's hands. He began to work his shoulder blades and his back. Mikleo made a little muffled groan when he touched a sore spot.

“This is what happens when you lay in bed all day,” Sorey said. “You get sore all over.”

“Idiot.”

“So uh,” Sorey went on. “When you tried it... why didn't it work?”

“It felt good at first,” Mikleo said. “Then it started to hurt.”

“Oh.” Sorey sighed. He thought what a miracle it was that Mikleo wasn't tensing up at the mere thought. “You know, sometimes it helps if you think about someone else.”

“Like who?”

“Um.” Sorey coughed to clear his throat. “Whoever it is you... you know?”

“Sorey, I don't know!” Mikleo tensed up a bit at that, then he sighed and relaxed again.

“Whoever makes you feel funny,” Sorey said.

“Who did you think about when you had this kind of problem?”

“I think I just told you that.”

“Huh.” Mikleo yawned. “I guess you did.”

Then, before he realized it, Mikleo was leaning back against his chest. His head rested beneath his chin and he could still smell shampoo in his hair from yesterday's trip to the sauna, their bodies fitting together just so. He could feel his heart beating against his own. His breathing was steady and slow.

With Mikleo's relaxation finally accomplished, Sorey didn't dare to move. He wondered if Mikleo could feel how tense he was, and tried his best to relax and breathe without moving his chest too much.

“Mikleo?” he whispered. No answer except for a soft snore. Mikleo had fallen asleep. Even if it didn't cure him, at least he was getting some rest.

Sorey smiled and tightened his arms around Mikleo so that he wouldn't slouch and fall. He didn't care when his leg fell asleep, or when his lower back got sore from sitting that way for so long, or when Mikleo's wispy hair tickled his nose.

He could stay that way forever.

\- - -

  
  


Mikleo woke with a yawn. It took a few seconds to realize that he was still locked in Sorey's arms. Sorey was warm and soft like a big blanket around him, and the smell of him brought back memories of times spent together.

Sorey stirred, mumbling something as if he'd been half-asleep. “Ah, Mikleo, do you feel any better?”

Mikleo sat up, still processing where he was. “It's gone,” he said. “It went away.”

Sorey pulled him back into his embrace and squeezed him tight. “That's great!” he said, hugging him. “I'm so relieved!”

“Hm.” Mikleo ignored the over-excited shepherd squeezing the life out of him. “Just when I was thinking maybe it wouldn't be so bad.”

Sorey released his hold, but kept his arms circled around him. “It's not gone forever, you know.”

Mikleo pried himself out of Sorey's grasp and turned around in the bed to face him, leaning on the mattress with his hands. “You're impossible. So you were hiding something like that from me the whole time? How did you even manage? Did it happen a lot?”

Sorey waved his arms. “No, no, well, not for the last few years, at least. It was a lot worse when we were younger. Back then, I...”

Mikleo turned his head down towards his hands, hiding his face under his bangs. “You've had this problem for a long time, and I never even noticed..”

“Back then I just felt things and didn't know why. Once I started to get it, then it became easier to deal with.” He laughed. “I guess humans and seraphim aren't that different after all.”

“Not that different?” Mikleo's head popped back up as he barked at Sorey. “Mine lasted for nearly two days straight!”

Sorey laughed again. “Now that we know how it works,” he said, “and that there is a cure...”

Mikleo blinked wide open eyes at him. Sorey was looking away, scratching his cheek with his index finger like he always did.

“Maybe we should test it?”

“What do you mean, _test it_?”

“Like, see what brings it back, and what makes it go away again?” Sorey still wouldn't look at him. “I'm only being scientific!”

“That blush on your face says otherwise.” Mikleo sat up straight and folded his legs underneath him. He crossed his arms and pressed his eyes shut for a moment. He could just about _hear_ Sorey's embarassment. “What do you suggest?”

“Oh.” Sorey's voice hitched. “I wasn't thinking of anything specific. I never thought you'd agree.”

Mikleo opened one eye at him and found him playing with his earrings, flipping the little feathers around between his fingers. “Well, I suppose we don't just runt like prickleboars.”

“No, no, no way!” Sorey was waving his arm in front of himself again. “That's not what I'm suggesting at all! Geez, you kind of have a dirty mind, Mikleo.”

“It's your fault for putting the image in my head!”

“Just.” Sorey held his hands up, flattened out, and moved them up and down as if pushing the idea itself down. “Just let me try holding your hand again.”

Mikleo nodded. Sorey scooted up to him in the bed with a sparkle in his eye, like a child who'd been given permission to have a cookie. Mikleo sighed at him. Even that goofy expression made him feel, as he'd described it earlier, funny.

Sorey took his hand. It was gentler than ealier, more controlled. Touching Sorey without any reason or excuse, just for the sake of touching him, made the back of his neck warm. Then Sorey leaned in, and rest his head on Mikleo's shoulder. Given their height difference, this wasn't the most comfortable position to be in, but Mikleo appreciated the idea. He nudged Sorey's head with his own to move, and leaned into that spot that seemed a perfect shape for his chin on Sorey's shoulder.

He felt Sorey breathe in deeply as he leaned against Mikleo in return, resting his cheek against the top of Mikleo's head, their arms together, and fingers interwoven.

“I like this,” Sorey said.

“I do, too.”

“Although, it doesn't seem to be having the desired effect.”

Mikleo lifted his head and found Sorey looking at him with such a content expression, a depth of affection in his eyes that he only now realized had always been there. Mikleo found himself gravitating towards him without knowing consciously what he was doing. He nuzzled his nose and mouth against Sorey's cheek in a way that was less of a kiss and more clumbisly rubbing their faces together.

Sorey hummed a laugh against him and cupped his face in his free hand. “That's not how you do it,” he said. “Come on, even serpahim know how a kiss is done.”

“I wasn't trying to kiss you!” Mikleo hid his face in Sorey's shoulder. “I was just putting my face there and--”

“Oh okay. Not a kiss. My face just collided with your face in the lip area.”

He balled his fist and pounded Sorey on the shoulder. “Of course!” Sorey grabbed his arm and pulled him close again. Mikleo saw that Sorey's eyes were closed and very close to his face a split second before he realized he was being kissed.

Sorey's lips on his were soft in a way that Mikleo hadn't expected. Neither of them pressed against the other, but hovered with their lips touching, enjoying the simple warmth of it.

Sorey pulled away from him and grinned. “I think we're getting somewhere now.”

Mikleo made a sharp gurgling noise as he looked down and understood what Sorey meant. He should have known from the way his heart was pounding that the stiffness was back. He covered up with his hands.

“Don't worry about it,” Sorey said, pushing a tress of hair out of Mikleo's face. He reached for Mikleo's hand and took it away from his lap.

Mikleo didn't worry, and kissed Sorey again. This time he pressed against him, like that need which was neither hunger nor thirst could be satisfied if he could just taste Sorey deeply enough. He placed his hands around Sorey's neck and pulled him in. Sorey opened his mouth and allowed him to have as much as he wanted, petting his face with his hand, and guiding him. Mikleo flicked his tongue against Sorey's lips and over his teeth. Sorey mimicked his motions in return, and it tickled.

Mikleo kept thinking how disgusting this was, all the teeth and saliva, but he kept doing it, and didn't want it to stop.

Sorey pulled away with a gasp, like he'd forgotten how to breathe through his nose. He panted as he rest his head against Mikleo's, combing his fingers through his hair. “I seem to be having that same problem now.”

Mikleo looked down at Sorey's hips and saw what he was talking about. A part of him was pushing his pants up in a riduclous way. Mikleo threw his arms around Sorey's neck and laughed until he was crying. “We _are_ the same!”

“Of course,” Sorey said, with a tsk. “What, did you think mine would be heart-shaped or something?”

Mikleo was still laughing, uproriously, relentlessly. “I didn't know what to think!”

Sorey sighed and hugged him in return. He rubbed his back with both hands and gave him a firm pat. “You're all right,” he said. “We're all right.”

“So um,” Mikleo mumbled, looking at Sorey's face again. “I guess since we figured out what causes it. Maybe we should...?”

Sorey looked back at him, wide eyed, mouth pressed into a flat line. “You uh, you should be perfectly capable of taking care of that problem on your own now right?” He tried to smile, but it came out crooked. “I never intended to... to do all this...”

“Oh. The situation pushed you into this, huh?” He sighed. “I'm sorry.”

“No, it's not that!” Sorey shook his head and began rubbing Mikleo's shoulders again. “I just never did this with another person before, and...” He held his hands still. “It's not like it could have been anyone else but you.”

“Sorey.” Mikleo wasn't sure what he was getting ready to say. He felt like he needed to scold him for something, but had no idea how to put it into words. “As long as we're being scientific,” he said. “It just seems more efficient to take care of both problems at once.”

“Efficient,” Sorey said, and his brow furrowed as if he were really considering the practical implications. “That's true. The logistics of finding one private place was hard enough, trying to do this seperately would just make it more complicated than it needs to be.”

“Right.”

Sorey grinned. He leaned in as if he was about to start jabbing at Mikleo's stomach as usual, and Mikleo almost said _this isn't the time for that!_ But he felt Sorey's hand slide down the center of his belly and underneath the waistline of the loose pants he slept in, and gasped. Sorey's fingers brushed against the base of his erection. His gasp melted into a sweet utterance of Sorey's name.

“You're so smooth all over,” Sorey said as his fingers tangled and groped for what they could find.

Mikleo winced as Sorey's clumbsy fingers curled around the shaft and began to rub. Like before, it felt good for just a moment, but then it stung.

“Sorey stop,” he said. “That hurts.”

“I'm so sorry!” Sorey sighed, pulling his hand back. “I got a little carried away.”

“Even though it's you, it still doesn't work. Why?”

“Ah!” Sorey clapped his fist into an open palm. “Your skin is sensitive, that's all.”

“What do you mean?”

“Why didn't I think of that before?” He stood up from the bed, leaving Mikleo staring at him wide-eyed and confused, and began to dig through their supplies piled in the corner. “Where's the medicine base?” he asked. “You know, the stuff you use to make gels and bottles?”

“It's in your pouch, but why?”

Sorey located the bottle and held it up as if he'd discovered a rare artifact. “This'll do it!”

“Huh?”

Sorey returned to the side of the bed and knelt on the floor in front of Mikleo, positioning himself between his legs. “Here,” he said, smiling up at Mikleo. “It just needs a little help. I'll show you. Don't worry.”

Mikleo had to stop himself from flinching when Sorey pulled at his waistband. He didn't know why. It's not like Sorey hadn't seen him naked before. But when Sorey peeled down his pants and saw his cock standing up hard, he felt hot and shivering all at once.

He closed his eyes and let himself trust Sorey's directions. He heard him uncork the bottle. When he touched him again, it was lukewarm and wet. Sorey's fingers slid frictionless around him, and that sparkling, fiery glow quickly returned to Mikleo's senses, multiplied.

He opened his eyes and looked down between fingers covering his face. Sorey's hand was wrapped around him. Sorey looked up at him with love and concern, and their eyes met. “That's good,” Mikleo said. His voice cracked as he resisted the urge to moan and curl his legs up. “Oh, that's really good, Sorey.”

The worry faded out of Sorey's expression, leaving nothing but the purest adoration. “I'm glad,” he said. He placed his weight into his arms on Mikleo's legs to keep him from involuntarily kicking him as he started to twitch. “You can lie back if you prefer.”

“Y-yes,” Mikleo stammered. He was shaking too much to think of anything smart to say. “What about you?”

“Don't worry about me.”

“Idiot,” he grumbled, adding a _tsk_. “What's the point otherwise?”

“The point is--” Sorey laughed. He stopped rubbing Mikleo. “I want to make you feel good.”

Mikleo pouted. As soon as Sorey stopped, he wanted more. “Get up here with me,” he he said. “Don't even think about saying no.”

“I wouldn't.”

Sorey eased into the bed. This time he laid down on his side, resting his head on the pillow. Mikleo let himself sink into the space between them. “You've been waiting longer,” he said. “How long?”

“Hard to say.”

Mikleo unbuttoned Sorey's pants and slipped his hand inside. “Years?”

Sorey sighed when he grasped his dick in his hand and guided it out of the constraint of the fabric it was threatening to burst from. “Since always.”

“That's crap,” Mikleo said. “You were an innocent child.”

Sorey hummed and crossed his arm over Mikleo's, looking for an angle that would give them both sufficient access to each other. “I'm not talking about this.”

“What then?” Mikleo felt Sorey's hands slip into his pants again.

“For you to love me back the way I loved you. I thought it might never happen. I was content without it, but...”

“You moron.” Mikleo pressed a kiss against his forehead. “I've always loved you.”

Sorey rose up on his hands and knees and straddled Mikleo, casting his shadow over him. “I've only been waiting for _this_ since about the time I started running laps in the morning.”

He rolled his hips against Mikleo's. His cock dug into the soft valley of Mikleo's skin on the inside of his thigh, still slick with the clear gel base. “You're so soft,” he said. “I just want to touch you.”

Mikleo locked his arms around Sorey's neck and pulled him down. His own erection slid against Sorey's stomach, spreading that sparkling warm feeling throughout his body. Sorey dug his arms under him and cradled his head. Mikleo felt fingers combing through his hair. He ground his own hips up into Sorey's in reponse, at an awkward and off-kilter pace at first. Then, as with everything, they found each other's rythym and became like one body.

“Imagine if we used the armatus,” Sorey said. “And we could know each other's movements all at once.”

Mikleo groaned. “That'd be a gross abuse of your spiritual powers.”

“Maybe next time, then.”

Sorey kissed him again and again as they ground their bodies together in the sweetest, messiest way. He began to laugh soft and bright, almost a giggle. Mikleo found it infectous and laughed in return. “What's so funny?”

“Nothing,” Sorey sighed, breathing hot on Mikleo's ear. “It's just that, when I would do this by myself, it always felt kind of lonely. Hollow, I guess. But with you it's so much fun, right? This feels so great, and it's with you. I never knew it could be fun like this.”

“You're too much.” Mikleo twitched and writhed underneath Sorey with every rocking motion. Sorey's moaning softly along with him filled him with a sense of accomplisment.

“Mikleo, I'm really close, are you?”

“Close? Close to what?”

Sorey stopped rubbing against him in that wonderful motion and looked in his eyes, blinking.“You don't know?”

“No, I don't know!” Mikleo still had his arms around his neck, and snorted right into his face. He needed him to keep going, and he didn't know why. “I've never done this before!”

Sorey laughed again and closed his eyes. He pressed a kiss to Mikleo's brow. “Just relax and go with it,” he said. “I'll take care of you.”

“You're infuriating sometimes, you know?”

“I know.”

Sorey put his weight into the arm hooked under Mikleo's head and used the other to grasp at Mikleo' cock. He held it steady so that they rubbed against each other, and thumbed at the sensitive tip of it.

Sorey poked and prodded, touching him different ways, seeing what would get the loudest sigh out of him. Mikleo couldn't identify it or control it, but he knew he needed it. His body arced into Sorey and he began to thrust his hips wildly as it overflowed from him, moaning and crying for Sorey even though he was so close to him.

Sorey held him against the mattress so that his erratic movements wouldn't throw them both, and it felt so good just to have all of Sorey's strength pinning him down. Sorey told him sweet meaningless things lost in the ringing in his ears as he clutched at him, digging his fingers into his back.

The release that came left him rolling in that starry sensation, ears ringing, sparkles in his vision. Coming down from that height was sweet and warm. He melted into the bed beneath Sorey, sighing.

He opened his eyes to find Sorey's face still twisted up in the heat of whatever that had been, and wrapped his arms and legs around him to help him find that same moment. Sorey pounded against him and moaned into his ear. He jolted stiff, and a second later his body was slack and heavy. He crashed on top of him.

“Sorey, uhg!”

Sorey rolled over on his side laughing. “I'm sorry, wow.” He held Mikleo and kissed him on his cheek and his ear to apologize.

Mikleo looked down at their stomachs and the mess they'd made and grimaced. “What the...?”  
  
“I should have warned you it can be sticky,” Sorey said, and began to sit up. “Just wait, I'll find a--”

Mikleo grabbed his shoulder and pulled him back down. “Not yet,” he said, holding Sorey tight against the pillow. “Just wait.”

“Yeah,” Sorey sighed. “Good idea.”

“I miss sleeping in bed with you.”

“Yeah?” Sorey gave him a shit-eating grin and toyed with a piece of his hair. “That's unlike you to say. If I knew you'd be so agreeable afterwards, I would have tried it sooner. Imagine the arguments we could have ended.”

Mikleo sat up. “I'd rather imagine you shutting up.”

“Aw, Mikleo...”

Mikleo sat up and got out of the bed. He came back to bed with a wet wash cloth from the room's basin. He wiped himself off and then did the same for Sorey, dabbing gently at his stomach. Sorey gave him a goofy smile, so content to have Mikleo tending to him.

Sorey tackled him and pulled him back down into the matress. He started kissing him again until Mikleo couldn't breathe. “Sorey!”

Sorey stopped smothering him and instead nuzzled his cheek with his nose. “It's going to take a while to make up for all those days I didn't kiss you,” he said. “It's been since age ten, so eight years, and at a rate of one kiss a day, I factor that you owe me two thousand, nine hundred, and twenty kisses.”

“I never entered into any such agreement.”

  
\- - -

  
  


Mikleo emerged from the inn the next day, clean and dressed, along with Sorey, to the sound of cheers and clinking glasses from the party. Lailah, Edna, Rose, and Zaveid were all waiting at one of the tables in the bar. Sorey clapped his hands along with them.

“Man,” Rose said. “Not that I don't appreciate a break now and then, but I sure am glad you're feeling better!”

“Good morning, Rose.” Mikleo said with a smile. “Thanks for helping Sorey take care of me. I apologize for any trouble I may have caused you. Or any of you.”

Rose looked at him stranely and laughed. “Wow Mikleo, I don't think you've ever been so nice to me.”

Edna rolled her eyes. “Sickleo is all smiley, I wonder why. What's the deal, Mik-nice-y?”

“Hey, I'm nice! When have I been not nice?”

Zaveid chuckled. “ _And_ he's back.”

Lailah stood up from her chair abruptly enough to knock it to the floor (causing a couple of human patrons of the bar to shriek), and threw her arms around Mikleo. “I'm so glad!” She rubbed her face against his with tears in her eyes. “I was so worried, Mikleo!”

Sorey began to laugh. Mikleo's face was so cute being squished like that.

“I'm fine now, geez, get off of me!”

“Everyone's so happy you're feeling well,” Sorey said and smiled at each of his friends gathered. “Especially me.”

Zaveid clicked his tongue and shot double finger guns at Sorey, winking. Sorey groaned, and tried to avoid making eye contact with the glare of death Mikleo was giving him.

“Sorey! You told _Zaveid_ , of all people?” He had his fists balled and was gritting his teeth. “Really? _Zaveid_?”

“I didn't tell him, he just kinda guessed!”

Edna grinned. “Told Zaveid what? What did he tell you, Zaveid?”

Zavied stuck his chest out and pounded it with his fist. “It's a secret between men!”

Mikleo growled through bared teeth. “You tell anyone, and you die!”

“Ooh, it must be embarassing if gentle Meebo is threatening violence.”

While they continued to argue, Lailah put her hand gently onto Sorey's shoulder. He looked up at her and found her smiling. “Ask us any time you need some space,” she said. “We're all here for both of you.”

“Thanks, Lailah.”

He watched Mikleo arguing with Edna and Zaveid, Rose laughing at it, and smiled. His best friend with his new friends, everything made sense.


End file.
